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A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR EVENTS IN THE GREAT WAR

August, 1914
 1   Outbreak of World War I; German declaration of war on Russia
 4   Wilson proclaims US neutrality

January, 1915
18   Japan's Twenty-One Demands on China

May, 1915
 7   Lusitania sunk by German U-boat off Irish coast
23   Italy declares war on Austria-Hungary

July, 1915
21   Wilson sends notes to Secretary of War Garrison and Secretary
      of Navy Daniels directing them to draft a defense program

January, 1916
27   Wilson launches nationwide whistle-stop campaign to generate
       support for Preparedness and the Continental Army with three
       speeches in New York

February, 1916
 3   Wilson delivers final speech of Preparedness campaign in Saint
      Louis

March, 1916
 9    Pancho Villa's raid on Columbus, New Mexico
15   Pershing starts pursuit of Villa into Mexico

April, 1916
27  Marshal Lord Kitchener, British Secretary of State for War,
      asking for American military participation in Europe

July, 1916
29   US Marines land in Haiti

November, 1916
7-9  Wilson wins reelection, which was in doubt until the
       California returns
28   First Germany airplane raid on London
29   US occupation of Santa Domingo proclaimed

January, 1917
10   Allies state war objectives in response to Wilson's peace note
       of 18 December
31  Germany announces resumption of unrestricted U-boat warfare

February, 1917
 1   Germany resumes unrestricted U-boat warfare
 3   US severs relations with Germany
26  Wilson requests authority from Congress to arm US merchant
     ships

March, 1917
12   Wilson announces arming of merchant ships by executive order
20  Wilson's Cabinet votes unanimously for war
29  War College Division issues report:  Calls for large force of between 500,000 and 1,000,000 -- and optimistically
     estimates that at least ten months would be required to ship a force of 500,000 to Europe once it was raised and trained,
     putting the earliest effects of US involvement in mid- to late-1918; openly plans to send US force overseas, but argues
     against offensives through Macedonia or Holland; repeats opposition to sending an untrained American army overseas;
     Wilson publicly calls for a national army to be "raised and maintained exclusively by selective draft"

April, 1917
 2   Wilson delivers war address to Congress at 8:32 pm
 6   US declares war on Germany

May, 1917
18   Selective Service Act signed by Wilson

June, 1917
26  First US troops (1st Division) arrive in France

November, 1917
 7  Bolsheviks seize power in Russia

December, 1917
 7   United States and Austria-Hungary at war
 9   Jerusalem captured by British
22   Central Powers and Soviets open peace negotiations at Brest-Litovsk

January, 1918
 8   Wilson's Fourteen Points speech to joint session of Congress

February, 1918
11   Wilson's Four Principles speech to joint session of Congress

March, 1918
 3   Soviet Russia and Central Powers make peace with Treaty of
       Brest-Litovsk

May, 1918
25   German U-boats make their first appearance in US waters

September, 1918
 4    American troops land at Archangel in North Russia
29   Bulgaria signs armistice

October, 1918
3-4  Germans and Austrians send notes to Wilson requesting an armistice

November, 1918
11   Armistice goes into effect at 11 AM, the eleventh day of the eleventh
       month
18   Wilson announces that he will attend peace conference personally

December, 1918
13   Wilson aboard the liner George Washington arrives at Brest, France

January, 1919
 5   Sparticist (Communist) revolt begins in Berlin
18   Peace negotiations start at Paris
25   Peace conference accepts principle of League of Nations

June, 1919
28   Treaty of Versailles signed in Hall of Mirrors at Versailles


Military Casualties in World War I
   1914-1918
Belgium               45,550
British Empire       942,135
France             1,368,000
Greece                23,098
Italy                680,000
Japan                  1,344
Montenegro             3,000
Portugal               8,145
Romania              300,000
Russia             1,700,000
Serbia                45,000
United States        116,516
Austria-Hungary    1,200,000
Bulgaria              87,495
Germany            1,935,000
Ottoman Empire       725,000